Late in the spring of 2011, we were off exploring in the backcountry of Utah’s San Rafael Swell. We spent a week or so off paved roads and camping out. One of the spots we stopped at was the Silent Sentinel.
Tag Archives: Colorado Plateau
Copper Globe Mine
The Copper Globe never really had much production but was worked for many years, starting in 1906 and going through to WWII. This is some remote country. It was interesting to see that most of the entrances to the workings have filled in from wind blown sand.
Black Dragon Pictographs
This site is in an impressively deep canyon that is a little too easy to reach. High clearance is required, but that is about it. It is a great site. I need to go back and get some better photos.
Thompson Canyon Pictographs
The Thompson Canyon pictographs site (also know as the Sego Canyon pictograph site) is a pretty impressive place. Large panels of Ute, Fremont, Anasazi, Barrier Canyon and Archaic pictographs and petroglyphs adorn the cliff walls of the canyon. People have been coming to this spot in the canyon and painting pictographs here for thousands of years. Why remains a mystery.
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Butler Wash Ruins
Butler Wash is a long creek with Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) ruins scattered all along it. The BLM has created an overlook at one of the ruins in a side canyon of the wash. There is a nice natural bridge (arch) nearby and I got some good shots of recent rainwater going towards it.
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Montezuma Creek and the Three Kiva Pueblo
There are many small Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruins and Ute and Anasazi petroglyph sites scattered along Montezuma creek. Some are hard to spot, so you have to keep an eye out for them. Near the middle of the canyon is Three Kiva Pueblo where the BLM has restored one of the kivas for people to check out. It was very interesting and quite a special place.
Hovenweep – Square Tower Group
One of my favorite little national parks is Hovenweep National Monument. It is a quiet little site in the Four Corners area of Utah. It is one of the few campgrounds I enjoy visiting. It usually isn’t crowded.
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